From Anger to Joy: How One University Student Found Jesus in the Sub

 

Growing up, faith wasn’t really an important part of my life. As a family, we would go to Church on Easter, and that was about it. The only other time I remember going consistently was for Sunday school, and that was just to get confirmed.

So it probably comes as no shock that when Sunday school ended and I didn’t have to be at church, I wasn’t there.

That decision to walk away from faith stuck with me through my teenage years. You can ask any of my friends from that time, they’d tell you I was quick to anger, always “shouty,” and if you ever caught me playing FIFA… well, maybe a little destructive too.

But it was that anger that hurt me most. It affected my conversations and damaged my relationships with the people I loved.

Wake-Up Call

Fast forward to my first year of university. I looked around at the people living without faith and asked myself: “Are these the people I want to be like? Are these the things I want to do?”

The answer was no.

There was something empty about it all, the partying, the messing around. That realization was the beginning of my journey back to faith.

But it was really during winter semester, when I was more lonely, more homesick, and stuck in my room because of the weather, that I started putting real thought and effort into my spiritual life.

When Everything Started To Change

It wasn’t until my second year that I met CCO and signed up for the Discovery faith study. Honestly, I thought it would just be a good way to meet other Christians rather than actually learning a lot. I figured I already knew about my faith from Sunday school.

But there was something big that struck me.

I was taught that a relationship with Jesus is not a scale of perfection; it’s a commitment.

I don’t need to be perfect and holy to have Jesus at the center of my life. Rather, it’s through having Jesus at the center of my life that I can become holy.

After learning this, there was nothing stopping me from choosing Jesus.

So on a random day in the Dalhousie Student Union Building, I invited Jesus into the center of my life while being serenaded by worship music from a stranger on the piano. (I kid you not, it was like the coolest thing ever.)

Ever since that moment, I’ve sincerely felt the joy of the Lord!

That anger I used to carry has been flipped into joy. Joy in people, joy in conversation, genuine laughter with people I didn’t think I could connect with, and a love for strangers that the old me would have ridiculed.

The transformation hasn’t been about becoming perfect, it’s been about letting Jesus be at the center, and discovering the person He created me to be.

The Mission Continues

But here’s what’s even more amazing, my story didn’t end with that moment in the Sub.

Not too long after that, I found myself leading a Discovery faith study group. And you know what? It’s been really exciting, and it hasn’t been as challenging as I thought it would be. A lot of them are in the same place I was when I took Discovery a few months ago.

The result? Four out of five students in my group have put Jesus at the centre of their lives!

The joy doesn’t stop there. Last fall, I was so impacted by the Gospel message that I put my Computer Science studies on hold for a weekend and travelled with CCO’s team to New Brunswick for their “Clear and Simple” outreach project.

Along with my friend Jack and other Dalhousie students, we trained about 20 young adults in Saint John to share the Gospel clearly and simply. Then we went two by two to proclaim Christ to curious listeners at an outreach event at the local Cathedral.

Seeing people encounter Jesus for the first time or discover they can actually know Him personally was incredible. It reminded me of that random day in the Sub when everything changed for me, except now I got to be part of making that happen for others.

The Ripple Effect

What started as my own journey from anger to joy has become something so much bigger. The same Jesus who transformed my heart is now using me to help transform others. And those students I led through Discovery? They’re doing outreach and inviting others to try Discovery, too.

This is what CCO does – it doesn’t just help students find Jesus; it equips them to help others find Him too. From discovery to discipleship to mission, it’s a beautiful cycle of transformation that keeps multiplying.

The angry, “shouty” guy who walked away from church? He’s now a missionary disciple studying Computer Science at Dalhousie, leading faith studies, and travelling to share the Gospel with strangers in New Brunswick.

Only Jesus could write a story like that.